


µ's, actually

by kimizomi



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Also Crack, Christmas, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Lots of 4th wall breaking, dont worry all the main love live ships get their own storyline, quite crack actually im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 02:35:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13114161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimizomi/pseuds/kimizomi
Summary: Eight years after µ’s disbanded, the strong connection they once had gradually changed forever, and so did their contact numbers. But maybe the coming Christmas season could bring them back together, just for a chance reunion. Ho ho ho.





	µ's, actually

**Author's Note:**

> From the title, the structure and some parts were inspired by the film, Love Actually. As for most of the dialogue, they are pretty crack because I just wanted to get some plot holes from the anime out of the system and translate them here :") 
> 
> Anyway, Merry Christmas dear readers! Thank you all for being so kind with your kudos, comments and support on my other fics and I hope you enjoy this one! ( ´ ▽ ` )b

**Prologue.**

_Eight years after µ’s disbanded, they were all on their separate ways—maybe except Nozomi and Eli, because nobody would want Otonokizaka’s biggest, raging lesbians to separate. But the other seven members of µ’s went away after every single one of them graduated from Otonokizaka, taking everything they could possibly have with them—their bags, their lingering feelings and their contact numbers—because they never seemed to update them. As such, no one were kept up to date with each other, and don’t even mention social media because if these girls were baka enough to not update each other’s contact, then how would you think they wouldn't realise they could actually go on social media to find the other members of the nine muses?_

_It’s mid-December in Tokyo, the season where the temperature fluctuates drastically, the trees a barren sight, and minimal snowfall dotting the ground with white below. Some also call it the season of giving, so hopefully this season can give the nine girls a Christmas miracle, or to put it bluntly, give them some common sense to actually find a way to meet up with each other again._

 

** ACT 1 **

December 22nd.

Nishikino Maki has never gotten a moment to catch a break in her life. When she was in high school, she was the designated piano player for many events. When she became a school idol, she continued being a piano player for the idol group as well, and somehow, she developed impressive skills to allow her to compose a full piece with unattainable electronic and bass sounds with just her ordinary grand piano in just one night. People often questioned how she did it, but all she could say was “nani sore, imi wakkani?” As rude as it sounded, Maki often asked herself the same thing whenever she heard the full recording of her composition too.

_Nani sore, imi wakkani?!_

Now, 23, Maki is a senior who is months away from graduating with a medical degree. To her classmates, she was just like them—a normal girl studying for a degree. But as mentioned, she has never caught a break in her life, so with that being said, Maki knew for herself that she wasn’t just a normal girl. Asides from her busy college life, she was also expected to work part-time in her father’s hospital, in order to _“get more exposure in the medical field”._ As much as Maki was reluctant to indulge herself in medical pursuits everyday, it was a good distraction anyway. A good distraction from constantly thinking about a certain black-haired senpai, Yazawa Nico. She wondered if she still had her hair tied up in two twin tails like before. Or whether she was still attached to her whole Nico-Nico-Nii idol persona. There were so many things she wondered about Nico, but it never occured her to ask Nico herself about it, because she didn’t have her new contact number.

“Maki-chan!” The gruff voice of her father called out from behind her. Sitting behind the computer at the hospital’s administration table, she whipped her head around to face an older Nishikino in white scrubs. 

“Yes, Papa?” 

“We would like to do something different for the kid patients this Christmas Eve.” 

“Something different?” Maki tilted her head, awaiting her father’s response. During the Christmas season, the hospital usually hires and brings in magicians and entertainers to entertain the sickly kids in their wards. So when her father said about doing something different, Maki wondered what that could possibly mean. 

“Yes.” He nodded. “I’m thinking of idols!” 

Maki froze up in her seat as soon as the cursed 4-letter word escape her father’s mouth. The days of being a school idol and a magician composer immediately flashed in her mind, but the most prominent memory flash of all was a pair of red eyes gleaming back at her, the distant echoing of _Nico-Nico-Nii_ beating around her eardrums. 

“Maki-chan? Are you okay?” 

Her father’s voice brought her back to reality, and as soon as she snapped out of it, she realised that beneath the table, her hands were subconsciously forced into a Nico-Nico-Nii pose, with the middle and ring finger closed in, leaving the rest out for display. Sheepishly, she closed in all her fingers at once and looked back at her father, putting on the best good-girl smile she could muster up. 

“But would idols even come to the hospital to perform, Papa?” 

Her father gave off a smug smile, which seemed a little too creepy coming from him. He reached into the pocket of his scrub and pulled out a piece of paper, sliding it in front of his daughter on the table. 

“I have a contact for an underground idol company. They send out their idols at random though, so I hope you can secure one that can entertain the kids here with your wonderful administration skills.” 

And that was another thing about Maki’s part-time job at the hospital. She wasn’t decked out in a scrub like she was supposed to. Instead, she was working at the administration desk at the hospital, managing phone calls and paper work, similar to the role of a secretary in normal 9-5 office job position.

Maki gave off a crooked smile upon her new assignment, and nodded her head slowly as she looked at the 11 digits scribbled hastily on the paper. She sighed, knowing very well her father’s doctor handwriting has always been this messy. However, she developed a keen eye for reading messy handwritings with her time in the hospital, and was able to clearly decipher the numbers. Picking up the phone, she carefully pressed in the digits.

* * *

When Nozomi and Eli were the only ones mentioned to still keep in contact with each other, whether it was actual contact number or the lip-service kind of contact, another duo that was often overlooked upon actually managed to keep in contact as well—Hanayo and Rin.

However, it wasn’t like keeping in contact for both Hanayo and Rin was very useful either, because Rin had gone to study track and field overseas in Europe, while Hanayo remained in Tokyo for a local university degree in culinary. Hence, the childhood best friends had to deal with a long-distance friendship, so screw having each others’ contact numbers still anyway, because they wouldn’t be able to see each other face to face. Hanayo wouldn’t admit it, but this long-distance made it all the more hard for her to confess her feelings to Rin. As such, she had to keep holding it in throughout, until she found herself making her way to the Haneda airport to wait for the arrival of Rin. Rin was coming back to Tokyo for the winter holidays, and this was the only time where she contacted Hanayo to tell her about it. Being the love-struck college student that she was, she decided to give this a go and pick up her girl.

Only when she saw Rin walking out of the arrival hall did Hanayo find herself caught in a fix. Because over the course of almost four years, Rin had transformed completely. The short orange pixie cut she used to adorn had grown into a wavy long cut that reached the top of the waist, and even her bangs had grown such that there were no longer wispy bangs surrounding her forehead anymore. The girl who was a bit of a tomboy was now dressed in a pink pullover dress, with heel boots to match her outfit. Hanayo’s gaze then lingered on the girl’s chest and that’s when she also realised: SHE HAD OPPAIS. They weren’t particularly large, but they WERE THERE, and Hanayo wondered if the actual form of puberty happened if you went overseas. Once she saw Rin waving out to her, Hanayo quickly cleared her throat, and waved back meekly.

“Ah, Kay-yoh chin!” Rin called out in a completely different accent, leaving Hanayo in a daze. 

“Hey, okay you there Kay-yoh chin?” _Okay you there…?_ Now she was speaking in a broken Japanese, and even the way she spoke it showed a heavily accented english accent. It was just like an anime english dub at its finest. 

“I missed you, nya!” 

Hanayo smiled weakly. At least Rin’s nya was still there. 

Before she had time to react, she found herself being engulfed in a tight embrace from Rin, suffocating her mercilessly. It seemed that studying a degree in track and field really made her arms stronger than they already was. But most importantly, it seemed that being overseas also made her more touchy than usual. 

“Rin-chan, you’re suffo-oof-cating me.” Hanayo gasped. 

Rin let go of the bespectacled girl, grinning widely. Just then, a loud ringtone chimed in, and Rin excused herself to take the call. 

“Yes, I have arrived in Tokyo. I’ll see you after the summer break, Natalie. Happy holidays!” 

Hanayo overheard the conversation Rin was engaged with, and everything that came out of her mouth was in english. For a girl that used to hate english the most in high school, that was a surprising feat instead. 

Once Rin was done, she went back to Hanayo with the same grin on her face. “Now, where should we go?” She said unknowingly in english. 

“Rin-chan, I don’t understand.” Hanayo admitted shyly, shifting her glasses nervously. 

“Oh, sorry-masen!” Rin giggled. 

_Sorry-masen…?!_ Hanayo thought to herself at the weird english-japanese slang mix. 

“It seems I forgot a bit of Japanese.” Rin chuckled as she scratched at her hair. 

Never mind the fact that they were having trouble dealing with long-distance, because now there was a bigger problem: the current language barrier between Hanayo and Rin.

* * *

“Ah!” Nozomi yelped, pausing in the middle of the shopping street to clutch at her stomach.

Icy blue eyes widened and instantly darted to her girlfriend by her side. “What’s wrong? Is she here? Do you feel any pain?” She quickly ducked beneath Nozomi, despite the fact that the view might be suggestive to others. “Is your water breaking?” 

Nozomi quickly giggled, and patted her paranoid girlfriend’s head. “Silly, I’m fine. She’s just kicking for you, Elicchi.” 

Realising her brash reaction, an embarrassed Eli slowly got up, and returned to her position beside her 8-months-old pregnant girlfriend. She stared at her full round belly, and smiled as she calmly placed her hand above her stomach. “Mou, you make me worry so much, mini Non-chan.” Eli whispered to the belly as she rubbed at it gently. 

It was true though. Throughout Nozomi’s pregnancy so far, Eli has faced about 200 freak-out moments, just because she was so paranoid about things going wrong. After all, it wasn’t that easy for the both of them to have a baby. Same-sex marriage wasn’t legal in Japan yet, and the both of them wanted to only get married here. But they realised that while waiting for it to happen, their age was slowly catching up to them (they are both currently 25 years old, but they already consider it old enough) and hence, they decided to just have a baby together first via a sperm donor. It took them four tries, until Nozomi finally got pregnant. As such, it would be most important if they took this chance completely and not risk anything in the process of doing so. 

“Ah, Elicchi!” Nozomi called out again, triggering another panicked response from Eli. “Look at that!” She pointed to the glass window from a store they were standing in front of.

Eli relieved a soft sigh as she realised that declaration of an “ahh” wasn’t about the baby, but about the store instead. It was a modern, aesthetic looking bridal store, with many varieties of gowns on display around the racks. She turned towards her girlfriend who was staring in awe, knowing how much she wanted to get married. Needless to say, Eli felt the same way. 

“I know we said we’ll wait, but can we go see?” Nozomi asked, her turquoise eyes gleaming enthusiastically. 

And of course Eli couldn’t deny her pregnant girlfriend her innocent request. But it was also because the blonde herself was pretty curious about the gowns, or even female tuxedos they would have in store. 

“Irasshaimase!” A punk-looking teenage with multiple piercings and a blue-haired undercut greeted them. For someone who had an outrageous appearance, there was a sweet demeanour about her which was calming.

Nozomi quickly leaned in to Eli’s ear, whispering quietly, “she’s definitely gay.” 

“Nozomi!” Eli swatted at Nozomi’s arms. 

“Could you two be a lesbian couple?” The punk chick clasped her hands together as she marvelled at them in awe. 

Eli leaned in to Nozomi this time, and she whispered back, “yep, definitely gay.” She then quickly cleared her throat, and smiled at the girl. “Yes, we are. We’re just here to take a look though.” 

The punk chick then began to pout dramatically, a sight that was definitely unexpected. “I know how that feels. I can’t wait for Japan to legalise same sex marriage so I can wear these gowns with my girlfriend too.” 

“That’s really cute.” Nozomi smiled, acknowledging the younger girl’s comment. 

The girl then bent down slightly to face Nozomi’s baby bump, cooing loudly. “Kya!!! You two have a baby?!” 

“Yes, would you like to feel it?” Nozomi offered, stretching out the material of her jumper so that the girl can rub her belly.

“Can I?” She turned to Eli, eyes beckoning for permission. 

“Of course, go ahead.” Eli smiled. She wrapped her arm around her girlfriend as the younger girl rubbed Nozomi’s stomach gently. 

“E-E-Eli-chan? Nozomi-chan?” A familiar high-pitched voice called out from near them, and both heads whipped around to the direction of the noise, knowing very well whose voice it belonged to. 

When they turned around, they found themselves facing Kotori, who was standing behind a counter. She had on glasses, so they couldn’t exactly confirm if it was her. However, there wasn’t anyone but Kotori who had that signature hair loop and green bow in her hair.

“Kotori-chan?” Nozomi was the first to speak up. 

The sales assistant girl stopped rubbing at Nozomi’s belly, and stood up to look at Kotori with a sheepish grin on her face. “Sorry, boss. I couldn’t help myself, it’s a cute lesbian couple who are having a baby!” 

“Boss?” Eli’s glance shifted from the girl to Kotori.

Kotori got out from the counter, and the two of them saw how formally dressed she was, reminiscent of her mother who was the Principal of Otonokizaka back then. She took out her glasses, and tilted her head with a smile. “It’s been such a long time! Welcome to my bridal store!” 

“This is amazing…” Eli breathed out, taking a step towards Kotori. “We’ve been trying to contact all of you but the numbers have changed, so I’m really happy to see you here!” 

Kotori’s face tightened into something hard, her gaze melancholic. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t been able to talk to anyone from µ’s too…” 

“Really?” Nozomi crinkled her forehead softly. “Not even Honoka-chan? _Or Umi-chan_?” 

Kotori shook her head, managing a weak smile. “No, not even them.” 

Eli and Nozomi looked towards each other, wondering how Kotori had no whereabouts about her two childhood best friends. The stranger thing was the fact that she had completely no idea about Umi, because if they recalled, Kotori was dating Umi a few months after µ’s disbanded. 

“Maaa, it’s okay! At least I get to see you two now!” Kotori’s voice was chirpy again, and she clasped her hands together excitedly. She paused to stare at Nozomi’s baby bump, and a delighted yelp escaped her mouth. “And you two are having a baby too!” 

“Yeah, she’s due in a month.” Eli smiled. 

“That’s great.” Kotori piped up happily. She then lowered her glance to Nozomi and Eli’s fingers with a raise of her brow. “Are you two married already?” 

“No, we aren’t yet.” Nozomi said.

“Not going overseas to marry?”

“No.” Eli said with a shake of her head. “We only want to marry in Japan.” 

Kotori winked at the both of them, and rummaged around the rack in front of her, pulling out a long strapless wedding gown and presenting it to them.

“Ehh? But we just sai—”

“Maaa maaa, don’t worry about it!” Kotori assured. She held the dress closer to Nozomi’s direction, “you can always try it on for fun! This is a maternity-fit wedding gown, I’m sure Nozomi-chan will look beautiful in it!” 

Nozomi examined the fabric with her hands, all while gazing at it in anticipation. Knowing how much Nozomi wanted to wear a gown, Eli lightly tapped her bum to get her attention. 

“Go and try it on, mama Nozo.” 

“You have to try it with me too, Elicchi.” Nozomi said with a pout. 

“Don’t worry Nozomi-chan, you can go ahead. I’ll find Eli-chan a gown too.” Kotori assured, as she stuck her hand between the gowns and picked out one that she thought would look nice on the Japanese-Russian beauty. 

“This is beautiful, Kotori.” Eli marvelled after receiving a gown with a lace-cut at the top from Kotori. The blonde then snuck a peek at the female tuxedo section by the side, and being a keen observer, Kotori held on to her wrist and immediately brought her to the tuxedo section. 

“Or you can try on the tuxedo collection that we have too. I saw the pictures from the Love Wing Bell performance before and your long blonde hair looked really beautiful along with the tux!” Kotori exclaimed. 

Once Eli was done picking out a tuxedo along with the first gown that Kotori had picked out for her, Kotori led her to a fitting room beside Nozomi’s.

_"Hi, I’m looking for a suitable dress for a bridesmaid.”_

When Kotori walked back to the front of the store to attend to other customers, she expected herself to be surrounded by a sea of white from the gowns around the store. What she didn’t expect was to see sea instead. 

One Sonoda Umi.

One Sonoda Umi whom she had fallen in love with during her adolescence, whom she was broken up with after, and whom she is still secretly in love with. 

* * *

“And today we welcome our very special top tier dancer…”

A silhouette formed over the translucent red curtains, and a figure of a woman stood behind it in a provocative position. The curtain opened slowly to reveal—

“HORNYKA CUCKSAKA!” 

A spunky jazz music cued in, along with the excited cheering from primarily the male audience in the house, and Honoka took her place by the pole on center stage. She was used to it by now; feeling the airiness around her body with the way she was only dressed in minimally-clothed bra and panties, as well as the plentiful sum of Japanese yen that was constantly thrown at her throughout. She was used to all these attention and whistle-blowing, so why did she still feel like something was missing? Sucking in her pride like she always did, she carried on with her antic around the pole, while casting flirtatious looks at the men around her. It wasn’t until her gaze briefly lingered upon a mysterious woman dressed fully in black, with shoulder-length chestnut hair. She was wearing a pair of stylish designer shades, so it was hard to tell who she was. However, the one striking thing about her appearance was her bangs. Those short bangs that barely concealed that oddly charming forehead…

Honoka didn’t let herself be distracted however, and swung her leg around the pole, securing herself tightly against it while tipping her head over and allowing a part of her bra strap to fall apart. 

“HORNYKA!”

“CUCKSAKA!”

“HORNYKA!”

The crowd went wild, and this further fuelled Honoka’s attempts to tease them further. She got off the pole, sauntering around it while pulling her strap back up, much to the dismay of the customers. She caught sight of the mysterious woman in black again, and this time she appeared to be getting out from her seat, and moving closer to the edge of the stage. As she was about to ignore this weird woman again, she saw that she had taken out a 10,000 dollar yen bill, and swiftly slid it at the tip of the stage. Once she was done, she squeezed past the crowd, moving further and further away from her. 

In the strip club, 10,000 yen meant a private session backstage. Of course sexual acts were prohibited, so male customers would rather spend their money on an actual prostitute joint just few streets down along the Shinjuku district. The woman was the first to take up the 10,000 yen offer. 

All the men were too involved in Honoka to notice, but she sure as hell did. Once she was in reach of the 10,000 yen note, she bent down to pick it up. A sly grin emerged on her face as she picked it up, and winked at the male crowd while shaking the money proudly in her hand. The intimidated male audiences looked all around them, just to find the lucky man who paid that huge sum of money to meet her backstage. What they didn’t know was that the mysterious and lucky person wasn’t a man, but a woman. And Honoka was about to meet her soon. 

* * *

**ACT 2**

(CONT.) 

It had been a few hours after making the phone call to the underground idol company, and they said that they would send an idol that would appeal best to kids to come down to the hospital immediately to try out before the actual performance on Christmas Eve. Maki wasn’t expecting such a fast reaction, but if this was something to do rather than just sitting behind her administration desk, she would gladly be receptive of it. However, that certain receptiveness was to be considered when the person that came walking up to her administration desk was none other than Yazawa Nico.

Nico was the first to notice Maki because who wouldn’t take note of that striking red hair anywhere? Then again, if her red hair was that easy to notice, why hasn’t she seen her the past few years? She was secretly happy to meet her favourite redhead again, but of all times, right now? Under this circumstance?! She had mixed feelings about this, but there was no turning back now. 

“Nico-chan?” Maki was the first to speak up between them, which startled Nico because Maki was never this forward, especially when she addressed her with the -chan honorific even after not meeting for so long. 

Nico cleared her throat, and lifted her head in an authoritative manner. “Good day, _Nishikino-san._ ” 

“Eweugh?! Nishikino-san?” Maki unknowingly declared loudly. Her colleague who was sitting beside her looked at her with a confused expression on her face, and Maki started to blush as she shot her an apologetic look. 

_She’s doing it, she’s doing it… That fucking kawaii tomato face of hers…_ Nico silently thought to herself. 

Maki then lowered her head, and crossed her arms defiantly. “Follow me to the meeting room, we’ll discuss the details of your performance.” 

Although Maki wasn’t looking directly at Nico when she said that, the black-haired girl knew that that was Maki’s way of speaking whenever she was shy, and Nico smiled to herself, knowing that her little tomato girl hasn’t changed at all even though it had been a few years. 

As cliche as it sounded, Maki’s heart hasn’t stop beating when she first laid eyes on Nico in flesh again. Just when she was thinking about her, she popped up right in front of her?! It was so surreal, and now she was leading her into a private room together. She pretended to cough, and her hand moved from her mouth to her chest, feeling her heartbeat. _Yep, still beating._ Why the hell was she so nervous? It wasn’t like she was obsessed with Nico or anything, nope. It wasn’t like all that bickering with Nico back in high school was because she was afraid to show her true feelings to her, nothing like that.

Once Maki reached the front door of the meeting room, she knew her whole inner monologue was over and it was time to face the music. She slowly pushed open the door, motioning for Nico enter before her and then closed it, following her behind. The meeting room was small, with only four chairs surrounding a small table, and the both of them took the chairs on the opposite ends of each other. 

“So, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” Nico said in a deep voice, as she sat cross-legged on her seat. (Nico has finally mastered the art of elegantly crossing her leg after the beach episode in S1E10)

“Yeah, it’s been a while.” Maki agreed softly. _What was this mood and why was Nico suddenly acting so mature?!_ In utter moment of anxiety, she resorted to twirling her strand of hair as a coping mechanism. 

“You’re a doctor now?” Nico flickered an eyelid at her, scanning her up and down before returning her glance to her own reflection on the glass table below her. _She still twirls her hair when she’s bored or nervous. That’s my Maki!_

Maki shook her head, with her fingers still intertwined around her hair. “Not yet. I still have 3 more months of college to go before I can officially become a doctor. I’m just working here part-time.” 

Nico nodded to herself. A part of her was envious that her underclassman was successful in her pursuits, but a better part of her was happy for Maki, because she deserved all of the things she wanted. She worked hard for it after all. 

“I see you’re still an idol.” Maki said.

And obviously Maki would address that part of her. 

Nico sighed, and uncrossed her legs to sit in a more comfortable position. “I’m no longer an official idol, Maki. I was back then with Honoka, but the both of us failed in our endeavours so now I’m just working as an underground idol.” 

“What happened to Honoka?” 

“I don’t know.” Nico admitted. “I lost contact with her after we both parted ways from our idol agency. And since I lost the rest of your contacts too, I basically didn’t keep up with anyone.” 

“Don’t you miss them?” Maki whispered. _What the hell was that. Why would those words even come out of Maki’s mouth… Nani sore imi wakkani…_

“Maybe.” Nico’s face took on a measured look. _But I missed you the most._

“It’s Christmas in 3 days, isn’t it?” Nico said, in an attempt to change the subject to a more light-hearted mood. 

“Yeah, papa and I have been decorating our fireplace as we wait for Santa-san’s arrival on Christmas night.” Maki replied, her tone less serious now. 

At the mention of that, Nico couldn’t help but smile. However, she was quickly aware of it and bit on her lips to keep from showing her smile. That girl still believes in Santa. Back when Nico first found out during a µ’s training camp that Maki believes in Santa, she was ready to jump on it and laugh at her for still having such a childish mindset for someone who appeared cold and harsh. Eli and Hanayo stopped her before she could unleash the shocking revelation to Maki though, and Nico was sure glad that she didn’t get to reveal it. It would hurt Maki’s feelings, and Nico didn’t want to be the one person to do that to her.

After all, Nico had always longed for Maki. 

But Nico would never be right for the perfect girl with beautiful red hair. She never was, and she never will now too. Not when she failed in her dreams and ambitions when Maki was reaching out to it. Maybe it was Nico’s pride, but she just knew that she couldn’t fall in love with Maki again now. 

However, the more she stared into Maki’s upturned violet eyes (she also secretly adored how Maki’s eyes were slightly slanted, it made her look adorable yet hot at the same time), the more she knew she was going to betray her own emotions. 

There was brief moment of silence before Maki reached out to a few pieces of paper around the table, sliding them in front of Nico for her to get a better look. 

“Um, so, about your performance for the patients…” 

* * *

After Rin had settled down in her own home and enjoyed some family bonding time, she was out of her house again to meet up with Hanayo, who was already waiting outside.

“Kay-yoh chin! Lunch should we now nya?” Rin spoke once again, in a broken Japanese. 

“Do you want to have Japanese or Western?” Hanayo asked. 

“Japanese food, nya! Western had too much in Europe!” 

Hanayo simply nodded, as she walked with Rin to the train station to a sushi bar she was familiar with. She had to start getting used to Rin’s broken Japanese. Either that or she, herself, had to pick up some english language so that at least she can communicate with Rin fluently. 

"Irasshaimase!” Everyone greeted as soon as Hanayo and Rin entered the Japanese sushi bar. 

Rin usually greeted them back, so when Hanayo saw that she was waving at them and close to opening her mouth, she smiled at the thought that some things still never changed about that childhood crush of hers. 

“Gomenasai!” 

_Gomenasai?_

Hanayo turned to stare at Rin, who still cluelessly had a smile on her face, even though she just apologised to the staff for nothing. She realised that a few customers had turned to stare as well, and Hanayo wished she could just back out of the place instead. 

“Why’s everynyan looking at me?” 

“Rin-chan,” Hanayo tugged on the sleeve of Rin’s jacket, “you just said sorry to all of them instead of saying thank you.” 

Rin’s mouth formed an ‘O’, and she quickly scratched her hair with a sheepish smile. “Oops, I forgot nya!” 

“You really forgotten a lot of Japanese huh…” Hanayo whispered. 

“Ah, never mind that!” The hyper girl exclaimed. “A place let’s get!” 

_Let’s get a place_. Hanayo quickly deciphered in her head. 

Once they were settled into their own booths, Rin was quick to pick out all the sushi with extra rice in them for Hanayo. It was one thing she had always done for her childhood friend whenever they came to the sushi bar together. That action warmed Hanayo’s heart, because even though they haven’t been communicating for a long time, Rin still remembered the small details about her. 

“Kay-yoh chin, I know you _like_ rice a lot, so eat more!” 

Wait. Among the whole Japanese (broken and non-broken) Rin has spoken, she only said the word ‘like’ in english. Hanayo was lucky that although she didn’t know much english, she could still recognise the word ‘like’. She didn’t know why Rin had to single that word out, and she hoped that she didn’t forget such an important Japanese word. 

“Umm, Rin-chan.” Hanayo called out meekly. 

“What is it?” Rin replied, after putting a piece of tuna in her mouth. 

Hanayo’s eyes were fixated on Rin’s chest, her cheeks reddening. “You grown a lot…” 

“Me?” Rin pointed to herself. Narrowing her eyes at Hanayo, she matched her glance and realised that Hanayo was talking about her boobs. “Oh, eheheh. Well you see, they’re actually push-up bras.” 

“Push-up bras?” Hanayo’s voice rose. As if growing out her hair and dressing up in an even more feminine way was surprising enough, Hanayo wasn’t expecting Rin to actually have it in her to become so vain such that she would resort to using push-up bras to make her chest look fuller. 

“Push-up bras in Europe, really cheap! My roommate recommended me to try it.”

“Roommate?” 

“Yeah, this girl Natalie. She’s also one of my close friends nya.” 

“Close friend…” Hanayo mumbled quietly to herself. It was the same girl Rin was speaking so fluently in english with, and a prickling sensation tugged at her heart. Was she feeling somewhat inferior? Was she jealous? Maybe.

“B-but, I’m still your best friend right?” Hanayo chewed on her lips nervously as she said that. 

Without hesitation, Rin slid her hand across the table to wipe off a rice stain around Hanayo’s cheek. After that, she smiled and poked at her cheek playfully. “Of course best friend is Kay-yoh chin nya!” 

“T-that’s good.” Hanayo could feel herself blushing, both from Rin’s action, and the fact that Rin still thought of her as a best friend. 

Still, she didn’t want to get best friend-zoned. Now that Rin was back for a few days in Tokyo, Hanayo had to take this chance to finally confess about her feelings for her. 

“Rin-chan.” Hanayo called out, her voice being projected louder this time. 

“Yes, Kay-yoh chin?” 

“I-I…” Hanayo’s hands were shaking uncontrollably under the table, and she tightened her grip on her skirt to keep from shaking. Sweat was starting to form at the sides of her forehead as she stared into the girl. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, and reopened them as she took a huge breath. She was going to do it. She exhaled, and sat up straighter in her seat.

“Rin-chan, I-I like you.” 

As soon as she said that, Hanayo quickly ducked her face behind the mountain of sushi that was piled around her, but she knew that it was unavoidable because she still wanted to see Rin’s expression. As such, she got out from hiding position and glanced at the girl opposite her. What she expected was shock, or at least happiness, but what she didn’t expect was seeing Rin with the most confused expression on her face. 

“Kay-yoh chin, what’s suki?” 

“Oh.” Hanayo breathed out. In a quick attempt to hide her embarrassment, she stuffed a whole sushi into her mouth. 

Rin forgot what ‘like’ in Japanese was after all. 

* * *

“Nozomi, I don’t know what to say… You look like a goddess.” Eli marvelled, mouth agape as she took in the view of her pregnant girlfriend in a gown.

After trying out their respective gown and tuxedo, they stood in front of the mirror by each other’s sides to admire themselves. Eli was excited to see how dashing she would look in a female tuxedo, but she didn’t expect the more breathtaking sight to be her own girlfriend instead. She felt her heart skittering in different directions, and all too soon she found herself tearing up. 

“Mou, Elicchi! Why are you crying?” Nozomi laughed, taking a step forward to the blonde and rubbing her back affectionately. 

“It’s just—” Eli sputtered in between her sniffling, “you look so beautiful! I just want to marry you now!” 

“We will get married someday.” Nozomi assured sweetly. “Anyway, I think Elicchi looks gorgeous too! I knew you would go for the tuxedo, hehe.” 

_No…._ Eli thought to herself. _I want to get married. I don’t care if same sex marriage isn’t legal here. I don’t want to wait anymore._

Once Nozomi and Eli were done trying out their bridal costumes, they went back to the main store area, hoping to see Kotori there. However, only the punk-looking girl was by the counter.

“Where is Kotori-chan?” Nozomi asked, looking around the store for a certain ash-brown haired lady in sight.

“Ah, boss is currently attending to a customer by the fitting room. She seems to be really engaged with her customer though, so I’m afraid I can’t call her out for you right now.” 

“Oh, that will be fine!” Eli insisted. “Will you let her know that we have to make a move first?” 

The girl nodded cheerfully and waved to them. “Of course! See you two soon!” 

With that, the couple left, without even thinking of leaving their updated contact numbers for Kotori.

Baka? Baka.

* * *

“So you’ll be the bridesmaid for your sister’s wedding?” Kotori asked softly, as she stood outside the fitting room while Umi was trying on the dress she had picked out for her earlier on. Her knees and hands were still shaking from the fact that she has just seen Umi, her ex-girlfriend in the flesh after what seemed like forever since their break up. The anxiety continued to claw at her just by the very fact that she had to engage in a conversation with her at the moment.

“Yes.” Umi’s voice surfaced, along with the sounds of rustling from the fitting room. “She will be getting married to her childhood sweetheart.” 

There was something about the way Umi said childhood sweetheart, and Kotori could sense the guilt prickling into her skin when she knew the deeper intention behind that phrasing: Umi was Kotori’s childhood sweetheart, and vice-versa too, and they were supposed to end up together. That’s what they always wanted, but Kotori had to end it for the both of them. She kept quiet, unsure of how to respond. 

“I see you finally achieved your dreams.” Umi spoke up, breaking the silence between them. 

Umi was unusually talkative today, but Kotori knew that it was probably just because she was being bitter, as all the words that came out of her mouth were to direct more guilt towards Kotori. Kotori couldn’t blame her after all, she was the selfish one who decided to break up when she told Umi that she was going to Paris to study fashion after graduating from Otonokizaka so that she could come back to Tokyo to open up her own bridal store. Initially, she didn’t want them to hopelessly pine for each other while in a long-distance relationship, hence the decision to break up. Gradually, she realised that the break up only made her crave for her blue-haired lover even more, creating a miserable mood for herself while she did her studying overseas. She was pretty sure Umi felt the same way, but in her case she definitely experienced two extra emotions that Kotori didn’t—hurt and anger.

“Y-yes… Yes I did.” Kotori answered briefly, a myriad of thoughts simmering in her head. 

From there, another silence ensued, and Kotori was digging fiercely into her palms, thinking of something to talk to Umi about. But nothing came to mind, because it has already been consumed with everything to do with their break-up. From the fitting room, the sound of a zipper being pulled down could be heard, and she figured Umi was releasing the zipper from the bridesmaid dress, getting ready to wear it. At that very moment, Kotori imagined how Umi must be standing in nothing but her bra and panties. Was she still wearing those pure white matching underwear she used to be shy of showing whenever Kotori was getting ready to get intimate with her? Or what about her back? Kotori remembered how beautiful Umi’s back profile was in the nude. She would always shift Umi’s silky blue hair to the side to reveal those defined back muscles from years of archery, a wonderful sight indeed. Kotori enjoyed trailing her fingertips down Umi’s back, the blue-haired shivering with the slightest touch. She would then stick out her tongue and lick her back, continuing to tease the girl playfully. It all came back to her, and suddenly Kotori could feel herself getting aroused. She squeezed her legs tightly, hoping to curb this insatiable feeling but it only made her all the more flustered. _How could she think of something at a time like this… At a time when her ex was just near her, separated by the door of the fitting room?!_

“Um, Kotori?” Umi’s voice resonated across the area, piercing through Kotori’s shameless thoughts (as Umi would describe of it) and bringing her back to her senses. 

“Y-yes, Umi-chan?”

“I need some help with the zipper.” 

Kotori froze up at that very moment. Just when she was remembering all the lewd things she had done with Umi in the past, she had to go in and be at close distance with the woman. She quietly cleared her throat, and knocked on the door gently. 

The sound of the lock being pushed away was immediate, and Kotori bit on her lip as she pushed the door, allowing herself access into the fitting room with Umi. When she entered, Umi was halfway strapped into the pastel-pink bridesmaid dress, and Kotori could feel the same tingling between her thighs as she noticed the things about Umi from her chest up: 

  1. She was wearing her usual white bra, pure as the angel that Kotori thought she was, but it also made her _purely_ sexual, since she frequented that bra along with its matching panties whenever they got intimate back then.
  2. Because of the fact that she had trouble zipping up all the way to her back, the zipper had stopped mid-way past her spine, hence exposing her back (Kotori purposely chose a bare-back bridesmaid dress for Umi, _just because_ ) _Damn that beautiful back!_



“Over here.” Umi said flatly, with her back still faced to Kotori as she pointed to where the zipper was. 

“Okay.” Kotori breathed out, her shaky and cold hands reaching out to touch the zipper. 

“You’re shivering, aren’t you?” Umi’s voice was deep and serious, and it immediately halted Kotori’s actions.

Finally, the blue-haired woman turned around to face Kotori. Seeing her ex-girlfriend up so close in the face again only intensified the amount of anxiety coursing through her, and Kotori had to look away to avoid showing how much of a nervous wreck she was. However, her plan backfired once she felt Umi cupping her chin, bringing her face back to hers. Umi tipped Kotori’s chin a little, forcing her to make eye contact with her. Kotori gulped from the blue-haired’s sudden forcefulness, but at the same time, she was also trying not to revisit her lewd thoughts because she always had a secret thing for dominant!Umi. 

“Uhh… U-Umi-chan… What are you d-doing…” Kotori stuttered, her eyes darting from side to side repeatedly. 

“You always shiver whenever you see my back like that, how naked it is and everything…” Umi spoke in a tone that was rather tantalising. If this wasn’t an awkward confrontation with an ex, Kotori would be ready to call this foreplay. 

“I-it was the most beautiful dress that I thought would suit you, that’s all…” Kotori lied. 

Umi pulled Kotori’s chin closer to her face, and they were so close that they were breathing out into each other’s face. “I see you’re still the same as ever, trying to make yourself the better person and thinking whatever you’re doing is the best for me.” 

“U-Umi-chan…” Kotori drawled out, her lips quivering uncontrollably.

It was quiet in the fitting room after that, with exception of the distant cheery jingles of “Jingle Bell Rock” playing from the store’s playlist. As turned on as Kotori was, she wished Umi would stop looking at her with that intense glare in her eyes, because it was just making her feel all the more awkward, not knowing what to say to her. 

It wasn’t until Umi finally let go of her grip on Kotori, and quietly squatted down on the ground, hugging her body with her face tucked into her chest. Soon after, whimpers followed, and it appeared that she was crying. 

“I hated you, Kotori. I hated you for breaking up with me like that!” Umi cried out, in between strangled sobs. She then lifted up her head, revealing her tear-stained face. “But why do I still love you so much?”

“Umi-chan…” Kotori bent down in front of Umi, cupping her teary cheeks with both hands. Seeing the love of her life so hammered by her brittle emotions only reminded Kotori of the sadness and anger she had caused her. And she regretted it. All of it. If she could, she would want to turn back time to take back her foolish decision to break up with the best damn thing she could ever have in her life, but that was meaningless now, wasn’t it? If she could fix it now, she sure as hell would go for it. 

Only if Umi would let her. 

“Umi-chan, I’m sorry.” Kotori said. 

“Kotori, I wish I could easily forgive you, but it’s hard.” Umi sniffled dismissively. 

“I understand.” Kotori answered, slightly deflated. She rubbed away the tears running down Umi’s cheeks, wishing she could stop all the hurt she had caused. 

“But you can prove it to me.” Umi’s voice was more stable now, and she gazed at Kotori, her amber eyes still glistening with tears. 

“Prove it to you…” Kotori repeated, as she thought hard on her words. That was Umi’s way of giving her a chance wasn’t it? If Kotori did enough to earn Umi’s forgiveness, things would look up again for them would it? She glanced at Umi, her amber eyes shining with an impenetrable gleam. Without much thought, she brought her hands from Umi’s cheeks to her waist, hugging her tightly. The blue-haired gasped slightly at the close contact, but she eventually melted into the warm embrace. Kotori smiled, feeling the kind of homely warmth that was unattainable except from Umi. How could she have been such an idiot to have ever let go of that once? 

While in their embrace, Kotori felt the bareness of Umi’s back, and pink tinted her cheeks as she realised that she still hasn’t zipped Umi up yet. As she got to it, Umi’s reflexes suddenly changed, and all of a sudden her hands were underneath Kotori’s skirt, or more precisely, on her underwear.

“I knew you were wet.” Umi said unannounced. 

“W-w-what?!” Kotori quickly let go of her hands on Umi’s back and backed away from Umi, her cheeks an intensifying shade of red. 

“I knew you were always turned on by Dom!Umi and backMuscles!Umi.” 

“Umi-chan, stop it… That’s embarrassing…” Kotori whispered. 

“Embarrassing? But you were always the shameless one, Kotori. Now, come and zip me up.” 

Sure, Kotori enjoyed a dominant Umi but with the way she was being relentless about it even after a serious conversation made Kotori not want to lose out. Hence, she quickly got over with her embarrassment and crawled over to the blue-haired on all fours, with a sly expression on her face. Move over, Dom!Umi, the original Dom!Koto was going to make her move on her prey. 

Umi, noticing Kotori’s sudden change in expression, lost all of her Dom!Umi aura, resulting in her cornering into the area of the fitting room. However, Dom!Koto had already reached her, and with a teasing lick of her lips, she began to zip down the dress instead of zipping it up for the poor Sub!Umi.

* * *

Honoka took a deep breath, and slowly pushed open the door of her dressing room backstage. Sure enough, the mystery woman who offered her 10,000 yen was sitting there, in her usual place.

“Ohayo, Cucksaka—” The woman then took out her glasses in slow motion, before turning to Honoka and grinning widely, “or should I say, _Kousaka_ -san.” 

Honoka stared back, fully in shock. That woman was none other than Kira Tsubasa, leader of the current idol group A-Rise and former rival of µ’s. 

“Tsubasa-san?” Honoka spoke up, timidly crossing over to where she was, though she maintained a clear distance as she was slightly embarrassed to let the A-Rise leader see her that way.

“I’ve been watching you.” Tsubasa said, crossing her slender legs while tilting her head to address Honoka.

“H-how did you know where I work?” Honoka asked, eyes shifting around uneasily. 

“I have my ways.” Tsubasa smiled, flicking a strand of bangs off her forehead. Though honestly, herridiculously short bangs weren’t even in the way of her view anyway. She did all that just for dramatisation. However, Honoka couldn’t deny that getting to see that charming forehead behind those short bangs were a feast for her sore eyes. 

“Anyway, Hornyka Cucksaka isn’t it?” 

“T-t-that’s…” Honoka stuttered, feeling the shudders from hearing her stage name. “That’s just my stage name.” 

“I hear the pay here is good, and the women here are quite talented.” Tsubasa said, still not addressing the elephant in the room regrading her presence here. 

Honoka kept her mouth closed, unsure of how to respond to that. 

“But it’s not exactly how you envisioned yourself as an idol, right?” Tsubasa said again. 

Idol. Those 4 letters. Those 4 letters that both kickstarted, and ruined her future, all at the same time. 

“What are you trying to say, Tsubasa-san?” 

This time, Tsubasa uncrossed her legs, and stood up. She made her way to Honoka, heels clicking loudly, until she was at least inches away from her. The insecurity crept up on Honoka, and she crossed her arms to hide her provocative dressing. 

“You.” Tsubasa stared at her, her gaze intense. “You should have listened to my advice when we had that conversation in my private limo.”

_“You even ran all the way from your house to my private limo in your bed time clothes without putting on a bra just to meet me in the Love Live School Idol Movie.”_ Tsubasa would have added, but held it back due to her not wanting to break her serious character. 

_Her advice…_ Honoka thought. It has been years. She recalled Tsubasa’s advice on continuing as a normal idol group in the entertainment industry prior to µ’s breakup as a school idol group. She didn’t take that advice however, and let the group separate, doing different things individually. And as for Honoka, she failed in her solo idol ambitions after graduating from Otonokizaka. But she still wanted the fame and attention an idol could have, hence resorting to a strip club to do so. Or at least that’s what she thought. 

“I like my job now.” Honoka lied. She knew this lie wouldn’t get through to the ever-perceptive Tsubasa. The one woman who knew everything there was to know about Honoka. One of the reason was because they used to support each other as the leader of their respective groups, but the main reason was because they had a mutual attraction towards each other. They didn’t actually start a relationship or something like that though, because of the lack of updates in contact numbers and everything. 

“No, you don’t.” Tsubasa countered. “You think you like the attention because it’s similar to an idol, but it’s not. You like it better when you’re with your close friends in an idol group.” 

Honoka shrugged, but she knew that whatever Tsubasa said had struck a chord with her. She liked being an idol, but she liked it best when she was with her friends. 

Tsubasa giggled, knowing very well that she was right. Not to be a brag, but she had always been right when it came to Honoka anyway. As she walked past Honoka, she stopped to look at her with a side eye (and also inhale the strong scented perfume Honoka was wearing) as a sly grin crept up at the corner of her lips. “Think about it. I will be back for you soon, Kousaka-san.” 

* * *

**ACT 3**

(CONT.)

December 23rd.

Nico was back at the Nishikino’s hospital for the second day, discussing the plans for her idol performance the next day. The both of them were doing so in the on-call room, also known as the typical meet-up rooms for the doctors who were in relationships with each other to have heated make-out sessions in between their shifts. Maki cautiously sat by the bed, careful not to stumble upon any remnants, as she watched Nico rehearse her song and dance routine in front of her. However, the more she looked at Nico’s rehearsal, the more she felt that something was off. She reached for her phone, and paused the music that was blasting through the speakers. 

“Why did you stop it?” Nico huffed, visibly irritated. 

“Something’s not right.” Maki quirked her eyebrows, coking her head to the side as her glance was fixated on Nico. 

“What isn’t?” Nico challenged. 

Maki knew what was wrong from the start. In fact, she already knew about it since the day Nico stepped into her hospital for the first time. But she just couldn’t admit it. 

“Come on, tell me. What is it?” Nico pressed. 

Maki twirled the strand of hair, looking down at the ground to avoid Nico’s glance. “It’s… It’s your Nico-Nico-Nii. You stopped saying it.” 

Inside, Nico was squealing to bits. Maki missed her true idol persona after all! Outside, Nico realised she couldn’t contain this excitement too. Her grin was wide, and she rushed over to Maki, both of her hands already in the Nico-Nico-Nii pose. “Could it be… Maki-chan misses Nico’s happy love Nico-Nii?”

“D-don’t!” Maki cried out, backing away from Nico. Yet as Nico continuously drew closer, she realised just how much she wanted her. Sighing in defeat, Maki summoned all her courage and looked at Nico right in the eyes. 

“Give all that Nico-Nico-Nii to Maki-Maki-Me.” 

And just like that, Nishikino Maki continued to reign as a person who has never gotten a moment to catch a break in her life.

* * *

“P-E-R-F-E-C-T.” Hanayo read out each letter properly, as she transferred the same english word onto her current list of english words on her notepad.

As she stared back at all the english words she had picked up from a Japanese-English dictionary she purchased earlier this morning, she realised that this was extremely hard. It was even harder because she was trying to pick up as much english as she can within a day, because of time constraints. But she had to do it. If not for herself then for Rin. And if she couldn’t do this for Rin by Christmas Eve tomorrow, her plan to confess again would have been ruined for sure. She slapped herself on the cheek to wake herself up, and continued on flipping through the next word she was going to research on on the dictionary. 

“Yosh! Time to get some engrish on!” 

* * *

First it was a bridal store. Now it was a jewellery store. Taking a huge breath and exhaling quickly, Eli pushed open the door of the store, stepping in to the place that was surrounded by glistening diamond rings. She knew that this was too much of hasty decision to make, but once she saw Nozomi in a gown, she knew she wouldn’t regret it. Besides, Christmas was the season of giving and if Nozomi was going to give the both of them a beautiful baby girl soon, Eli thought it was only right that she gave her back what she always wanted: an engagement ring.

Well of course it would be awkward if Nozomi didn’t accept the engagement, but as mentioned, nobody would want Otonokizaka’s biggest raging lesbians to separate, so Eli began to scan through the array of rings with a large amount of confidence instilled in her. 

* * *

The two ladies who weren’t baka as they managed to exchange their updated contact numbers with each other so they could text.

**minamikotori:** my new bridesmaid dress design just came in today. would you like to try it on tmr? 

**SonodaUmi:** I still have time before Onee-san’s wedding, so sure.

**minamikotori:** yay okay! see u soon umi-chan :3

 

Little did Umi know, Kotori had something bigger planned, and it was definitely a step above a bridesmaid’s dress. 

* * *

Sometimes being an official idol in the entertainment industry was hard, because she had to be in this ridiculous get up as a disguise whenever she wanted to go out to town. The precautions were more extraordinary now, especially since she was in the idol turf, Akihabara.

Whatever, she just had to get this done fast. Hauling her load of items in her bag with her, she stepped into the idol goods store which had been around her since her high school days. 

“Irrashaimase! How can I help yo—”

“WHERE ARE ALL THE KOUSAKA HONOKA MERCH.” Tsubasa pressed her palms to the counter, shocking the poor old woman who was staring at her cluelessly after being interrupted. 

“We don’t sell µ’s merchandise anymore, young lady.” The old woman said. 

“Well then.” Tsubasa then lifted her bag of items, and placed it on the counter with a loud thud. “These are all the Honoka merch I have accumulated over the past one year that µ’s has been active, as well as her own merch from her solo idol career. I demand you to sell them at your store again. At least for Christmas Eve.” 

“What?” The old woman responded, unsure of what the hell this mysterious woman was telling her to do. 

“DO. IT.” Tsubasa replied fiercely. 

* * *

**ACT 4**

(CONT.)

December 24th, Christmas Eve.

It was the evening of Nico’s idol performance at the kids’ ward of the hospital, and frankly, she wasn’t exactly prepared. Most of the preparation time was spent trying to catch up with Maki, and also making out with her. So as she stood in front of the kids who were sitting on play-mats as they awaited the start of Nico’s performance, she could actually feel the nerves seize her because she didn’t want to disappoint and embarrass herself in front of her crush in her crush’s own father’s hospital.

“We are delighted to welcome Miss Yazawa Nico-san who will be performing for you kids tonight on Christmas Eve!” 

_It’s okay, I’ll just improvise my way through it._ Nico breathed out through gritted teeth, as her hands kept a tight clasp around her microphone. 

Once the music cued in, Nico jumped out from behind the makeshift hospital curtains, to kickstart her idol song-and-dance session. 

* * *

Hanayo did a few deep breathing exercises, as she stood out in the cold right outside Rin’s apartment door. She held on to her A3 cards on one hand tightly behind her back, while her other hand was raised as she knocked on the door of Rin’s apartment.

“Coming!” She could her Rin shouting from inside the apartment. Hanayo steadied herself further, and did a few quick vocal exercises Maki had taught her before in high school, though she wasn’t even planning to sing. 

Once the door opened, Hanayo quickly kept her mouth shut, and pressed play on the radio she had also brought along with her. A self-made mashup of ‘Koi no Signal Rin rin rin’ and ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ played, while Hanayo began to take out the cards with completely english-written words behind her back, starting from the first one. Rin stared back at her with an amused expression on her face, wondering what was up with Hanayo.

The first card read, “With any luck, by nya-ext year” 

She flipped to the next, “I’ll be going out with one of these girls.”

The next card was a collage of Rin’s URs from Love Live School Idol Festival. 

Rin chuckled at the sight, and opened her mouth to say in english, “You know english, Kay-yoh chin?” 

However, Hanayo placed one hand over her lip to signal to Rin to keep quiet, and Rin obeyed as she waited for the other stuff her childhood best friend has had planned. 

Hanayo flipped over to the next card and it said, “But for now, let me say” 

And the next, “without hope or agenda,” 

And then, “just because it’s christmas—” 

“and at christmas you tell the truth.”

Hanayo delayed the flipping of the next card for a bit, and until she did, she put on the shyest smile she had on her face. “To me, you are perfect, nya.” 

Rin giggled, feeling her cheeks radiate heat as she read Hanayo’s adorable english-written confession so far. She realised there was still one more card left, and eagerly anticipated the last one.

As Hanayo’s fingers moved across the card the flip to the next one however, her face had changed into a pained expression as she let out a loud yelp, collapsing on the ground with the cards scattered all over. 

“Kay-yoh chin! Are you okay?!!!” Rin ran over to her, scooping her up into arms. Her gaze quickly went to where Hanayo was holding on to, which was her finger, that was starting to bleed profusely. 

That’s right, she had a paper cut, and was losing a lot of blood. 

“T-t-the last card…” Hanayo whimpered. 

“Shhh, don’t worry Kay-yoh chin! We nya-eed to get you to the hospital!” 

“The… Card…” Hanayo reached out with trembling, bloody fingers to the last card she was going to show Rin. It was the card with the three english words, “I like you”. 

* * *

It was the time of the year again for the Ayase-Toujou shared household. The time where jazzy Christmas music was playing on the vinyl while the house was filled with scented candles and christmas lights. Nozomi smiled as she sat at her usual seat on the dining table, pleased with the sight of grilled yakiniku prepared by her lovely girlfriend, and a exquisite glass of water. Well, she was pregnant after all.

“Elicchi, everything is perfect, come out and join me now!” Nozomi called out with a tenderly affection. Her girlfriend had always been crazy over making things perfect, so she must have been fussing over other dinner items to place on the dining table for their Christmas Eve dinner in the kitchen. 

But not this time. Because this time, Eli knew she was going to shake things up. What she had been doing so far in the kitchen while Nozomi waited for her at the dining table was going back and forth, reciting her proposal.

“Elicchi~” Nozomi’s voice echoed from the living room. Eli’s eyelids shot up, knowing very well about the different inflection in her tone when Nozomi called her. It was the please-be-my-side-or-the-baby-is-gonna-be-angry tone. Whatever. She didn’t need to rehearse her lines, she could just go out there and propose in her own manner, without any script or whatsoever. 

“Ah, Nozomi, sorry for the wait!” Eli stepped out gingerly, walking over to the dining table to first give Nozomi a gentle peck on her lips before sitting down on the opposite end of the table. 

“Eheheh.” Nozomi giggled, one hand rubbing her round belly affectionately while the other was stretched out across the table to caress Eli’s fingertips. “Thank you for the dinner, Elicchi. Merry Christmas Eve.” 

“Umm…” Eli started to speak. 

“Hmm?” Nozomi tilted her head in wonder. The pregnant purple-haired definitely had no idea what was about to happen to her in the next few seconds.

“Before we begin our dinner, I’d like to give you a Christmas present first.” Eli spoke up confidently, getting out of her seat and walking slowly to Nozomi. 

Nozomi giggled, staring at her girlfriend affectionately. “Mou, what is it Elicchi? Can’t it wait till tomorrow? It’s not even Christmas yet.” 

“No.” Eli shook her head firmly. “I can’t wait anymore, Nozomi.” 

Eli was nervous, there was no denying that. She had always been such a nervous wreck around her lover despite the years they had been together anyway—when they went out on their first parfait date after school, when she first initiated their first kiss in the student council room (to which it ended up as a fail because Eli was too afraid about the positioning of her head when they kissed, until she ended up clashing her nose with Nozomi’s), when they first made love in the Garden of Glass, one of their secret date places, and when Eli found out about Nozomi’s pregnancy. She was so terribly nervous, but she wanted to make this right, once and for all.

* * *

“Thank you for coming, Umi-chan.” Kotori smiled, as she opened the door for Umi to enter once she arrived at the bridal store.

“Thank you too, Kotori.” Umi smiled briefly, before looking around at the dimmed interior of the bridal store, with the exceptions of lighted candles all around. _What was this romantic mood…!_ “Um, I’m surprised to see your store is still opened on Christmas Eve.” 

Kotori chuckled lightly. “It’s actually closed, but I kept it open because I really wanted you to try this dress that came yesterday.” 

“Oh… Well, sorry for the trouble.” Umi drawled out, her voice a whisper. 

Kotori then guided her to the fitting room, and closed the door behind her. 

“K-Kotori? I haven’t gotten the dress yet.” 

“Hold on, it’s so beautiful, I need you to prepare yourself.” Kotori said, a somewhat teasing tone apparent in her voice. 

The ash-brown haired lady then took out the dress that she wanted Umi to try on, and in her sense, the dress that she also wanted her to wear once they could officially make up with each other again. Kotori knew this sort of action was a huge u-hauling lesbian thing to do, but if she didn’t seize the chance now, she wouldn’t know when was the next time she was going to be able to do this again. After all, contact numbers change a lot nowadays. 

Smiling to herself, Kotori knocked on the door, and Umi opened it a few inches wide enough for Kotori to pass her the dress from the gap. The door closed once again, and Kotori prepared her heart for the reaction she was going to get from the woman inside the fitting room, because what she prepared for her wasn’t another bridesmaid dress, but it was a wedding dress she specially tailored to fit her in the event that they would get married someday. 

The reaction she wanted was to hear Umi’s cute gasp, but that didn’t happen. Instead, she heard a loud thud from the fitting room, and as she bent down to see the inside of the fitting room from the open gap, Kotori saw that Umi had fainted. 

* * *

Eli started to kneel down on one knee, as she presented the ring box in front of Nozomi.

“Marry Christmas, Nozomi.” 

Nozomi took a while to process Eli’s statement. If all Eli was doing was giving her a ring for a Christmas present, then why was she making it seem like she was proposing? 

“Merry Christmas too?” Nozomi sputtered out, slightly confused. 

“Merry Chr—Wait no!” Eli exclaimed. 

“I was making use of the word ‘merry’ to put a play on the word marry. What I really meant was marry me, Nozomi!” 

_Oh no._ Eli silently thought to herself as beads of sweat formed on her head. She could have asked Nozomi to marry her the traditional way by simply saying ‘marry me’, but she had to be an extra lesbian and think she was being smart by being punny. Baka. Baka baka baka. 

To make it worse, Nozomi’s face was contorted into a pained expression, and Eli knew that she was going to be rejected soon. Even if she was being proposed to like that, she would reject the person as well. What kind of idiot would try to be punny at a time like this?! Merry Christmas indeed, Ayase Eli. Ho ho ho. 

The next thing that happened was a loud yelp from Nozomi, as liquid started to pool around the chair, until it dripped down to the ground below. Nozomi’s water just broke. 

* * *

When Tsubasa said that she would be back for Honoka a few days ago, she wasn’t expecting it to be today, on Christmas Eve; when she had her own special solo appearance for her strip dance segment. She was interrupted halfway, as Tsubasa took it upon her to walk up on the stage, and drag Honoka off it, much to the constant booing from the men watching below.

Tsubasa dragged Honoka out into the cold, with her still in her lingerie. Everyone outside turned to stare at her weirdly, but that didn’t matter as much as the fact that she was literally freezing her butt off. She then saw a familiar looking limo, and Tsubasa swiftly opened the door to let Honoka in with her. Even though her butt was now starting to warm up from the car seat, she still had no idea what the hell was going on. 

“Ano… Tsubasa-san…” Honoka said through chattered teeth. 

“Here.” Tsubasa took a coat and wrapped it around Honoka. 

There were a myriad of questions swirling around Honoka’s head, but with the way the A-Rise leader was being so vague and mysterious about everything, she figured it was better to just stay put and keep quiet. 

After a twenty minutes car ride, Honoka could tell she was in Akihabara, where she stayed in due to the flashing neon lights and buildings around the area. She turned to Tsubasa, who currently had a grin on her face. _What the hell was she doing bringing me home…?_

“Let’s go, Kousaka-san.” She said, once the limo pulled over.

The driver wasted no time in opening the door for them, and the harsh coldness intensified the shiver that Honoka was feeling. _She was barely clothed, how could she walk around like that?! (Could have asked herself that too when she tried to overcome the harsh snow conditions in S2E9 with Kotori and Umi in just their school uniform.)_

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fast.” Tsubasa assured, holding out her hand to Honoka.

There was no choice but to go along with her, and just like the old times, Tsubasa took hold of Honoka’s hand tightly, dragging her to wherever she desired. 

After braving through the cold, Tsubasa led Honoka into a familiar idol shop. That shop was where she used to frequent a lot with µ’s, and a wistful smile spread across her face as she remembered how their group was the highlight of the store with all sorts of µ’s merch. She sighed, breathing out cold smoke from her mouth. Those golden days were now over. 

“Kousaka-san, look over here.” Tsubasa pointed to a cubicle, and Honoka’s glance followed. 

Honoka felt her breath hitch in her throat, as she saw that the whole cubicle was stocked with nothing but her solo merch. 

“T-t-tsubasa-san… But h-how?” She stuttered. There was no way this store was still selling µ’s merch, let alone merch from her own short-lived solo idol career. 

“You see, people still want you around here.” Tsubasa winked. She knew this was a lie, but if this lie was going to motivate the woman whom she admired and adored so much, she didn’t mind doing it.

“I-I…” Honoka was both speechless, and so very cold. 

Tsubasa curled her fingers around Honoka’s hands, bringing them up to her mouth and blowing warm air into it. “Please be an idol again, Kousaka-san. I’ve never had an enjoyable rivalry with anyone but you. You make the idol world a bigger place for me.” 

“Tsubasa-san…” Honoka called out, feeling the warmth rush to her hands, and then her cheek. 

Suddenly, sharp sounds of sirens punctuated the area, and the both of them snapped their heads to the entrance of the store. First an ambulance whisked past them, and then a second one. As if that wasn’t enough, a third one passed by. 

Next came the mumblings from a crowd that had started to form outside, and they went out to take a look. 

“I HEARD µ’s ARE ALL GETTING BACK TOGETHER! APPARENTLY THEY ARE ALL ON THEIR WAY TO THE HOSPITAL!” 

_µ’s… Hospital…?_ Honoka's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. 

* * *

“Everyone with me, Nico-Nico-Nii!” Nico cheered loudly, as the kids before her followed. She wasn’t expecting this much enthusiastic response even from little children, and she was starting to enjoy this performance of hers.

She turned to the side, as Maki had been there all along to watch her performance as well. However, the redhead donned a worried expression as a doctor was right beside her, conveying some sort of hushed message.

“µ’s?!!!!” Maki shrieked out loud, making her voice become the attention of the room.

µ’s? Nico wondered. Why was µ’s even being mentioned? 

It wasn’t until Maki started to get into a panic frenzy, and she shot Nico an apologetic look before running out of the room to follow the doctor in front of her. Nico still had one last song to perform for her kids, but if there was a mention of her former idol group and a tensed redhead involved, she had to be there too.

“Hey kids, you want to see a magic trick?” Nico exclaimed hastily. 

“YES!!” The kids all shouted at the same time.

“Okay, Nico-Nico-GOKIGENYOU!” 

With that, Nico bolted out of the kids ward, and followed Maki behind. 

* * *

The hospital was expected to be extremely busy during the festive season, so an emergency ward for all emergencies was set up for the patients who were just admitted, whether be it a childbirth, or a small fracture or injury. The ward that Maki entered all had their curtains drawn around their respective beds, so she didn’t know which patient was in which bed. But apparently the other members of µ’s were admitted at the same time in the emergency category, so this had to be the ward with them inside.

“What’s going on?” Nico asked cluelessly by her side. 

“I can’t really explain right now.” Maki said, as she moved closely to the first bed with its curtain drawn. 

Taking a deep breath, she drew the sheets to reveal a bespectacled young lady, along with a long orange-haired woman by her side. 

“Oh my god, it’s May-ki, nya!” 

It took her a while to recognise them, but as soon as the infamous ‘nya’ came out from the woman, Maki knew who they were. Hanayo and a very effeminate Rin. 

“Oh my god, what the fuck, oh my god, what the fuck.” Nico exclaimed repeatedly. 

“Hanayo? Rin?” Maki asked, slightly speechless that she was seeing them in the flesh after years of not speaking to each other (because they didn’t update their contact numbers).

“It’s been so long, Maki-chan.” Hanayo smiled. _She was still shy and soft-spoken as ever._ Maki noticed.

“I can’t believe it’s May-ki!” Rin hopped out of her chair, stumbling as she finally got to Maki and hugging her tightly. _Now she had some sort of western accent, but it was definitely Rin with the way she was still spunky as ever._

“Eughh Rin, get off me!” Maki feigned annoyance, as she struggled to get out of the cat-like girl’s grasp. 

“Yeah, get off _May-ki.”_ Nico imitated Rin, poking fun of her accent. Though another part of her was slightly jealous over the sight of Rin throwing herself at her favourite redhead. 

“Eeeeh, Nico still short as ever!”

“Your Japanese grammar is shortened as well!” Nico fought back. 

“What happened to you?” Maki observed Hanayo, who had a large bandage around her index finger. 

“Ahh well.” Hanayo’s face reddened. “I had a paper cut.” 

“And that’s an emergency?” Maki raised an eyebrow at the bespectacled woman. 

“Kay-yoh chin has low blood platelets, nya! Die she will!” 

“Rin-chan, it’s not that bad…” Hanayo tried to assure. 

“Is that Rin-chan? I think I hear Rin-chan.” A distant voice from the bed opposite got the attention of the four women surrounded around Hanako’s bed.

The curtains drew, and they saw Kotori standing up, with Umi who was sitting up in bed beside her. 

“Kotori, Umi?!” Maki exclaimed. First her two best friends, now her two senpais in Otonokizaka and µ’s?! The rumours of µ’s coming back together really was true after all. 

“What happened to Umi?” Nico said, tilting her head to the blue-haired’s direction. 

“Ehehehe, well…” Kotori giggled lightly. She turned to Umi, who looked away shyly. “She fainted because I told her to wear a wedding gown.” 

“What the fuck can Umi stop fainting everywhere… The last time she fainted was when she saw that damned Nozomi and Eli making kissy faces to each other during a practice session on the rooftop…” 

“Did someone mention us?” Another voice appeared from the bed beside Kotori and Umi’s. That voice was evidently apparent, from the way there was a Kansai dialect slipping from her voice. 

Nico ran over to where the bed was, drawing the curtain swiftly to reveal Nozomi, Eli and…

A baby in Nozomi’s arms. 

“A BABY?!” Everyone turned to Nozomi and Eli’s direction this time, and they all crowded around the bed, including the patients Umi and Hanayo.

“It’s nice to see all of ya again.” Nozomi smiled calmly, while rocking the baby in her arms gently. 

Eli was snuggled up beside Nozomi, wrapping a protective arm over her while gazing at her baby daughter. (She was also sneaking quick glances to the ring that was glittering in Nozomi’s ring finger, proud of herself for actually having her proposal accepted after her fiancee’s birth. Being punny had its perks after all).

“We just met Kotori and Umi a few days ago, but we didn’t expect to see all of you here too.” Eli explained, her glance not leaving her daughter, and the ring. 

“I knew you two were going to be the first to get married and have a baby, you filthy lesbians.” Nico chided playfully. 

“Says ya, Nicocchi! I always knew you and Maki were gonna attract each other soon enough even after ya painful magnetic repelling duet!” 

“W-why would I be attracted to her?!” Maki sputtered, twirling the ends of her hair quickly, until her fingers got entangled within her hair strands. 

Nico snorted upon seeing that sight, and nudged her shoulder, shooting her a devious look. Maki sighed, knowing that she couldn’t keep up her tsundere act when she herself was the one who said “Give all your Nico-Nico-Nii to Maki-Me-Me”, to which they made out after in the on-call room of the hospital. 

“And I hear a little birdie is bold enough to hint at a marriage with her little Umi-chan.” Nozomi eyed the KotoUmi pairing to her side. 

Umi’s feet began to buckle, and Kotori quickly supported her by placing a firm arm around her waist. 

“Is she going to faint again?” Eli asked, slightly concerned. 

“D-don’t worry, I’m fine…” Umi said weakly. 

“It’s nice that we’re all together again.” Hanayo spoke softly. 

“Someone’s missing though…” Maki noticed. She looked around the whole group, making a mental head count in her head.

“6,7,8… There’s only eight of us.” 

There was a brief moment of silence before everyone erupted at the same time. 

“HONOKA!” 

* * *

And speaking of the devil, there was Honoka, still in her lingerie and coat, as she stood at the entrance of the emergency ward with Tsubasa by her side.

“EVERYONE!” Honoka cried out, running over to the group. 

But not everyone received Honoka in the same manner. They all stared at her, mouth agape. As for Umi, she fainted again in Kotori’s arms. 

“What’s wrong?” Honoka murmured, registering the confused expression on all their faces. 

Nico was the first to explode into laughter as she pointed at Honoka directly. “Well, who knew that the girl who used to wear her shirt with HO on it would eventually become a HOE!” 

And that’s when Honoka knew what was up. Her stripper ensemble. It would have been worse if Tsubasa hadn’t given her her coat. 

“Oi, Nico. Don’t be rude.” Maki shot a disapproving look at her. 

“I’m not, I swear!” Nico was clenching her hands to her stomach, still in a laughing fit. “It was the right time to make that joke!” 

When Tsubasa appeared beside Honoka, Nico finally shut up. Because after all these years, she was still a fangirl for A-Rise and here was the leader of the idol group, standing in the ward with them. 

“A-A-A Rise…” Hanayo breathed out in a staggered tone, also just as starstruck as Nico. 

“Hi, everyone. Merry Christmas Eve.” Tsubasa greeted cooly, with her signature wink. 

“There’s so many things going on nya!” Rin chimed in, looking at everyone around her. 

Just then, Umi awoke from her fainting spell and the first thing she did was to walk up to Honoka, with a frightful glance in her eyes. 

“Honoka…” She scrutinised the woman properly. “What have you been doing the whole time?”

"Being Hornyka Cucksaka." Tsubasa commented.

"Tsubasa-san!" Honoka swatted the smug woman away by her side. She looked back at Umi, who seemed a little angry.

“Heheheh, what’s wrong with your face Umi-chan, it looks scary as usual.” Honoka tried to alleviate the situation with a cheery tone. 

“Yeah Honoka-chan, I thought you wanted to be an idol, what happened?” Kotori joined in. 

Honoka pouted as she looked at her two best childhood friends who acted as if they were interrogating her. “Can I explain another day? It’s Christmas Eve and we finally reunited after all, hehe.” 

“Am I included in this reunion?” Tsubasa looked up at the ceiling in thought. 

“O-o-of course!” Hanayo squeaked out, eager to include the A-Rise member as part of their group. 

“Well, I should be anyway right?” Tsubasa winked. “I don’t want Honoka to constantly be a 10th wheel.” 

“Naww, Tsubasa-san…” Honoka cooed, cozying up to the woman with the charming forehead who did everything just to convince her enough to get back into the idol industry. 

Just then, the baby girl nestled in Nozomi’s arms started to blubber softly, until it escalated into full-blown crying. 

“Oh no, what do we do, what do we do… Does she need milk? Everyone move away! Nozomi needs to breast-feed now!” Eli was on her toes, panicking as usual as she saw her newborn crying loudly. 

“Relax, Elicchi.” Nozomi chuckled. “She’s just telling us it’s Christmas already.” 

“Huh…” Eli stopped in her tracks. 

“Yes! It’s 12 midnight. Merry Christmas everybody!” Honoka cheered once she checked the timing on the wall clock of the emergency ward. 

“Well…” The blonde relaxed, as she heaved a sigh of relief and resumed to where she was, snuggled against Nozomi and her baby. “This is an aµ-sing Christmas indeed.” 

Everyone’s glances were fixed on her, as they were suddenly silent all at the same time. 

“Umm, anything wrong?” Eli furrowed her brows. 

“Eli… When did you get so punny?” Maki replied. 

“I—Well…” The blonde chewed on her lip nervously, getting war flashbacks of her own punny proposal.

“We need to do a lot of catching up with each other, it seems.” Umi suggested.

_“Yeah, and you bakas need to exchange your updated contact numbers with each other.”_

“Ehh? Who said that?” Honoka stared at everyone, but none of their mouths were open. 

“I think it’s the baby.” Nozomi winked.

“Ho ho ho.” The mini Ayase-Toujou began to say.

And on the night that µ’s finally reunited, all of them got admitted too because of shock from Nozomi’s newborn saying her first few words already. 

 

Welp, at least they finally exchanged their updated contact numbers.

* * *

 Also, my good friend @sockycake made this for me, and I think it is highly appropriate xD

**Author's Note:**

> i swear i wasn't high while writing this


End file.
